TakingITGlobal Proudly Presents:

        The TakingITGlobal Dispatch! 
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For the month of April 2003 (Volume 3.3)

In this Issue:

1 -> Welcome to the Dispatch
2 -> 'Peace and Conflict' discussions
3 -> Global Gallery Contest
4 -> Online Chats
5 -> Global Youth Service Day
6 -> Featured Article of the Month
7 -> Featured Member of the Month
8 -> Wrap Up

~*~ 1. Welcome to the Dispatch ~*~

For the month of April 2003, TakingITGlobal would like to invite all members to 
get involved in the theme of 'Peace and Conflict'! The goal is to foster a 
culture of peace amongst members beyond the absence of war alone, but through 
understanding and appreciation of cultures, race, language and gender. It will 
also encourage members within countries where there is war and/or internal 
conflict to share their experiences, stories and their views on how to solve 
conflicts.

Our active members, youth representatives, staff and volunteers have been preparing for the April 
monthly theme by conducting interviews, discussions and adding content to help get things started! Do 
you want to be notified of upcoming themes so that you can start to prepare before the launch? Select the 
areas you are interested in contributing to here: 

We look forward to hearing and seeing your ideas, stories, and submissions on the theme of 'Peace and Conflict'! Read on to learn more, and visit the theme page at http://d.takingitglobal.org/themes/pac/ to 
get involved!

In friendship,

The TakingITGlobal Team
dispatch@takingitglobal.org

~*~ 2. 'Peace and Conflict' Discussions ~*~

Join one of the most active discussion topics on ?Peace and Conflict?! Share your views and perspectives 
by visiting http://discussions.takingitglobal.org

Members have begun contributing and sharing their personal stories about the 
conflicts happening in their countries, their different views on peace as well 
as conflict, the reasoning behind conflict and how to achieve peace. Here are 
some of the contributions shared by our members on different discussions:

"my parents, grandparents experienced the war. My sisters who are only few 
years older than me experiences the recent post war situation.. and now many 
friends who are the same age with me are being affected from chemical poisons, 
landmines etc left from the war..." Ha Thi Lan Anh, Vietnam

"...the continued hard-line military action was probably a necessary pressure 
to be placed upon them, to force leaders to offer reasonable solutions" Grant, 
Australia

"...if we want Peace in the near future we have to stop sending signals of hate 
and revenge and vindictive thoughts towards anyone directly or indirectly..." 
Manindra, Netherlands

"...you can?t expect the people to just go out of the blue, forget all the 
hatred, and forget how their ancestors were killed by the other side." Vivek, 
India

"Despite an all-inclusive peace agreement, "military activities continued in 
practically all areas" of the country over the past four months", New Africa 
Democratic Republic of the Congo

Come and join the discussion! http://discussions.takingitglobal.org

~*~ 3. Global Gallery Contest ~*~

The Global Gallery will be running a contest every month to coincide with 
TakingITGlobal's monthly themes. For April's contest, "Defining the Struggle 
for Peace", we want you to share what you think of 'Peace and Conflict' in the 
world, in your country, or in your community. Help to increase awareness and 
understanding through artwork!

A Hewlett-Packard scanner will go to the creator of the winning submission. 
Also, this submission, along with 4 runners-up, will have their artwork 
exhibited on a TakingITGlobal postcard, which will be sent to country team 
members and mentors all over the world. These 5 winners will each receive 20 
of these postcards and 1 TakingITGlobal mouse pad.

All artwork that is entered into the contest will be voted on by your fellow 
TakingITGlobal members based on visual appeal, style, effort, originality and 
relevance to the topic.

The "Defining the Struggle for Peace" contest will run from April 1 to April 22 
and you must be under the age of 30 to participate.

For more information, to submit artwork, or to see last month's winning submissions (from Israel, Peru, 
Canada, and the USA), head to: http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/contest

~*~ 4. Online Chats ~*~

This month we have scheduled Online Chat Sessions so that members can meet 
online and discuss issues on 'Peace and Conflict'. Members are also encouraged 
to chat online outside of the scheduled dates in order to share ideas and get 
to know each other. Here are the details of the scheduled chats:

Topic: Achieving Peace, understanding Wars:
* Can wars be used as a tool to achieve peace? How can peace be achieved?
* Is there a good war or bad peace?
* Protests, demonstrations, and riots -- are these the best ways of sending out 
a message?
* Share your thoughts on the Suicide bombings, or war martyrs

-> Wednesday/Thursday April 19/20
Wednesday: 9:00pm (PST)
Thursday: Midnight (EST) :: 5:00am (GMT) :: 3:00pm (Sydney)

-> Friday/Saturday April 18/19
Friday: 3:00pm (PST) :: 6:00pm (EST) :: 11:00pm (GMT)
Saturday: 9:00am (Sydney)

-> Saturday/Sunday April 19/20 
Saturday: 10:00am (PST) :: 1:00pm (EST) :: 6:00pm (GMT)
Sunday: 4:00am (Sydney)

We have purchased new chat software which will hopefully be more compatible with everyone's computer! 
The link to the chat room is http://chat.takingitglobal.org

~*~ 5. Global Youth Service Day ~*~

On the 11th to the 13th of April, youth around the world will be celebrating 
Global Youth Service Day, an event where recognition is given to the millions 
of young people around the world making a difference in their community through 
programs and volunteer action. The main goal of GYSD is to stimulate a greater 
awareness and support for young people?s civic engagement and development, 
encouraging an effective way to build stronger youth and communities.

Begin planning for the event and develop an event or project that you can start 
within your community. Here are suggested tools that you could use when 
planning and organizing a project:

Global Youth Service Day: http://www.gysd.net/
TIG Workshop Kit: http://workshops.takingitglobal.org/
TIG Guide to Action: http://www.takingitglobal.org/guidetoaction/

When you have decided on your event or project, be sure to add it to the 
appropriate part of the site:

TIG Events Calendar - http://addevent.takingitglobal.org/
TIG Projects System - http://projects.takingitglobal.org/

~*~ 6. Featured Article ~*~

This month's featured article is "A Generation of Change," by Simon Moss of 
Australia. In a time when the world is divided by tension and fear, this 
article is a breath of fresh air. More than ever, we need to be reminded of 
the simple things, like soccer games, that can bring us together onto common 
ground.

Thank you, Simon, for continuing to inspire, inform and involve TIG members all 
over the world. Read Simon's article at:

http://d.takingitglobal.org/express/article.html?cid=1084>

TIG is always looking for contributions to the Zine, and especially those relating to our monthly theme of 
'Peace and Conflict'. Share your opinions at: http://d.takingitglobal.org/express/content.html

~*~ 7. Featured Member ~*~

This month?s featured member is Ha Thi Lan Anh from Vietnam. Lan Anh has been 
a very active community engager, and has particularly been active in discussion 
forums and updates. Focussed on being a positive peer amongst youth, and well 
as on being a leader within her community, Lan Anh has been featured in several 
publications and media including "25 Excellent Women of Vietnam 2001", "Success 
Women of 5/2002" of Women Magazine and Young People leading change around the 
world.

Read Ha Thi Lan Anh?s profile to learn more about her:
http://profiles.takingitglobal.org/Angel_on_broomstick

If you would like to become a featured member, or have a story you want o share 
in the next upcoming newsletter, please write to dispatch@takingitglobal.org

In your story, include the following answers to these questions:
* How has TIG had an impact on your life or in your community?
* How have you helped to make a difference in your community through your 
involvement with TIG?

~*~ 8. Wrap Up ~*~

If you would like to help prepare for upcoming themes, you can fill out your 'Contributions to TIG' profile 
at the following URL: http://contribute.takingitglobal.org

Your interest, support and involvement with TakingITGlobal helps our community 
to grow and encourage more young people to be inspired, informed and involved 
everyday! Thank you for being a member with the vision of positive change!

Stay connected,

Your friends at TakingITGlobal 
dispatch@takingitglobal.org

--

The TakingITGlobal Dispatch is the official newsletter of TakingITGlobal, 
electronically published via email, and compiled from various events and news 
from within the TakingITGlobal network. Contributions should be sent to 
dispatch@takingitglobal.org. Please include your full name, age, and your 
member name.

Past issues of the Dispatch can be read in the dispatch archive, found at 
http://d.takingitglobal.org/community/dispatch/